


Voices From the Past

by justyouraveragehufflepuff



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Force Ghosts, Gen, One Shot, just Force Ghosts, that’s pretty much it actually
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-06-06 08:04:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15190436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justyouraveragehufflepuff/pseuds/justyouraveragehufflepuff
Summary: Kylo Ren has never believed in ghosts...until some unusual visitors come to call.





	Voices From the Past

_“Ben”_

When Kylo Ren first heard the voice, he thought he must be imagining it. Dreaming, maybe. He was alone in his quarters, and even if someone had been there, no one in their right mind would call him “Ben”.

_“Ben Solo!”_

The voice came again, harsher this time. Not a dream, then.

“Show yourself!” he shouted into the darkness.

The darkness answered.

Not with words, but with a flash of bright blue light that suddenly filled the room. When the light faded, Kylo could just make out a figure at the foot of his bed, glowing the same blue. It was a man; older, bearded, and wearing the long, flowing robes that had once been the trademark of the Jedi.

“Hello there,” the man said in a calm voice.

Seeing the glowing figure, Kylo suddenly remembered something his uncle Luke had said. He had talked about speaking to the ghosts of Jedi who had passed on and become one with the Force. But Kylo had always ignored him. He believed in the Force, yes. He could sense it, call on its power. It was there, that couldn’t be questioned. But he had never believed in ghost stories.

He was beginning to reconsider.

“Who are you,” Kylo asked, his voice a bit shakier than he would have liked.

“I am Obi-Wan Kenobi,” the man replied, “though you might know me by another name.”

“Ben Kenobi.”

“Yes.” the Jedi knight smiled, “It’s good to finally meet you, Ben.”

“Stop calling me that! My name is Kylo Ren.”

“That is the name you chose for yourself, but it is not who you truly are. You are lost, Ben. Lost to the Dark Side.”

“Lost?” Kylo shook his head. “You’re wrong. I’m not lost to the Dark Side. I found myself in it. I’m stronger than you ever were or will ever be, Jedi.”

“That is the Dark Side talking, not you.”

Kylo sneered, “what do you know of the Dark Side?”

Obi-Wan’s ghostly blue eyes suddenly met his namesake’s. “Believe me, I know it. I lost a friend, a man who was like my brother, to the Dark Side. I’ve seen what it does to a person. You think it will make you stronger but it will destroy you. It isn’t too late. Turn back to the light while you still can. There is still good in you, I can sense it…”

He was interrupted by another bright blue flash. Obi-Wan and Kylo both turned to see that two new figures had entered the room. One, at least, was human; a tall man with long hair, wearing Jedi robes. The other…Kylo wasn’t sure. Some kind of small green creature with huge pointed ears.

The human spoke first. “Hello, Obi-Wan. And young Solo.”

“Thought we might find you here, we did, Obi-Wan,” the green...thing said in a high, scratchy voice.

Obi-Wan turned to the newcomers. “Master Qui-Gon,” he greeted, nodding to the human, then turning to the other creature, “master Yoda.” The Jedi seemed different, Kylo thought, almost nervous. “ I only wanted to talk to him,” he said, “see if I could explain…”

“Feel guilty, you should not,” interjected the small alien, who was evidently named Yoda, “done the same, either of us would have.”

“We would have come with you if we’d known” the man - Qui-Gon - added.  
Yoda turned to Kylo, as if noticing he was there for the first time. He jumped up onto the bed where Kylo was sitting and looked at him, seeming to study him.

“Hmmm,” Yoda muttered, “right you were to come, Obi-Wan. Lost, all hope is not yet. Light there still is in him, even now.”

“The Force is strong with your family, Ben Solo,” Qui-Gon said, “and it is strong with you. You would have made a very powerful Jedi.” There was a brief silence, then he asked “I wonder, why didn’t you become a Jedi? Why did you choose the Dark Side? Was it for power? Revenge? Do _you_ even know why?”

“Stop!” Kylo shouted suddenly, “Just stop. You all try to turn me back to the light, don’t you know that will _never happen_? I know who I am. I am Kylo Ren. I am loyal to the First Order, and loyal to the Dark Side, and no ghosts are going to change that!”  
The ghosts turned to each other, dismayed.

“Listen to us, he will not, it seems”, Yoda sighed.

“But maybe,” Qui-Gon added, “to someone else.”

“I don’t think he’ll want to see Luke,” Obi-Wan countered.

“Speaking of Luke, he was not, I think.”

Obi-Wan rested a hand thoughtfully on his bearded chin for a moment. “Yes,” he agreed, “that might work. I’ll speak to him.”  
And with a blue flash, the three ghosts were gone, leaving no indication that they had ever been there at all.

Three days and two nights went by with a refreshing, if somewhat suspicious, lack of ghosts. Kylo didn’t forget the ghosts’ final words, their mention of “someone else”, but for the first two nights, no one else came. He began to think he was free of the ghosts - or that maybe he had been dreaming after all. That is, until the third night, when he was rudely awakened by a now-familiar flash of blue light.  
This time, a young man stood at the foot of his bed. Though he had to be a Jedi, he wasn’t wearing the traditional long robes. Instead, he was dressed in a short black and red tunic and pants, in a style that hadn’t been in fashion since the Clone Wars. A deep scar cut across his right eye, making him seem more intimidating than the other ghosts had, despite appearing much younger.

“Who are you,” Kylo asked in a bored tone, wishing just to get this conversation over with, “another dead Jedi here to try and bring me back to the light? I’m done listening to you. You’re all fools. If you knew the power of the Dark Side...”

 _“I know it better than you ever will!”_ the ghost shouted. He sighed, “You’re going to make this hard, aren’t you? And the others thought you would listen to your grandfather...”  
_Grandfather?_ Kylo thought. _Surely he doesn’t mean..._

“Lord Vader!” Kylo dropped to one knee, bowing.

“My name,” his grandfather snapped, “is Anakin Skywalker.” When Kylo looked up, he saw anger in the ghost’s eyes.

“But,” Kylo said defensively, as he slowly got to his feet, “I don’t understand. Are you…unhappy with me? I thought you would be proud that I tried to finish what you started.”

“Finish what I started?” Vader - no, Anakin - scoffed, “What you’ve done is restart what I tried to finish!”  
Kylo was taken aback by his grandfather’s response, and his shock must have been apparent.

“You don’t know, do you?” the ghost asked, “You don’t know why I turned to the Dark Side.”

“I always assumed it was for power.”

“In a way, it was. But that wasn’t the only reason.”

“Then what was the reason?”

Anakin turned away from Kylo, then replied with one word: “Love.”

“Love?”

“Yes. I was foolish enough to think that the Dark Side would give me the power to save my wife - your grandmother. I had a vision; a vision of her dying in childbirth. I was told that by turning to the Dark Side, I could stop it. But that was a lie. I couldn’t change the future. I...I couldn’t save her.”

His face, which had seemed so angry only moments before, was suddenly sad. “The Dark Side always takes more than it gives, Ben. And by the time I realized I couldn’t save Padme, I was already consumed by it. I was already Darth Vader. I thought it was too late, that I had no choice but to do the Emperor’s bidding, regardless of whether I wanted too. Then, years later, I met your uncle. My son showed me that there is always a choice. _Always.”_ He looked at Kylo as he emphasized the last word.

“It was for my family that I turned to the Dark Side. And it was my family that brought me back. Before I died, I turned back to the Light. That’s why I can appear to you as Anakin Skywalker, not as Darth Vader.”  
Kylo was suddenly forced to look at his grandfather with new eyes. Was this true? Had Vader really returned to the light?

“But…” Kylo could barely make sense of his thoughts. “You were a Sith lord, a warrior of the Dark Side. I admired you, wanted to be like you...”

Anakin hung his head, strands of blond hair falling over his eyes. “No,” he said, “you don’t want to be anything like me. I’ve been down the path you’re on. I know it seems easier, better, but it isn’t. It only leads to pain, for you, and for everyone else.” He looked up, his eyes finally meeting Kylo’s. “If Obi-Wan and the others can’t convince you, maybe I can. I know you feel it, the call to the light. Listen to it. Answer it. It’s not too late. Please,” he turned away, “don’t make the mistakes I did.” Tears were beginning to well in his eyes. Could ghosts cry? Briefly, Anakin turned back to his grandson. “If it wasn’t too late for me,” he said, “it isn’t too late for you.”

There was a flash of blue, and the ghost of his grandfather was gone. He was alone.

_Anakin Skywalker returned to the netherworld of the Force, and was greeted by none other than his old master._

_“You spoke to him?” Obi-Wan asked.  
The younger Jedi just nodded. _

_“It’s up to him now,” Anakin said, “he has a choice to make.”  
_

_“And will he make the right one?”  
_

_“Yes,” Anakin said, smiling slightly. “I think he will.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Thanks for reading! This is my first fic, hopefully it’s not too terrible! Probably gonna try to write something longer next.


End file.
